![In Italy, the untapped windfall of inheritance taxes In Italy, the untapped windfall of inheritance taxes](https://media.lesechos.com/api/v1/images/view/666849b49f7a2b57253292e9/1280x720/01101806460935-web-tete.jpg)
In Italy, the largest transfer of wealth in history has begun. The generation of baby boomers, who worked and saved during the Trente Glorieuses, is in the process of bequeathing their wealth to their children of generations X and Y (millennials). It is one of the many tremors of the demographic earthquake underway in Europe, and of which Italy, with one of the oldest populations on the continent, is the epicenter.
These cascading inheritances should, in theory, represent a boon for the Italian tax authorities. Since 1995, their annual amount has quintupled, going from 50 billion to 250 billion euros. A treasure of 5,000 billion euros over twenty years, which could represent a windfall in inheritance taxes for the State coffers in heavy chronic deficit. However, these rights have never exceeded one billion euros per year.